Army Spec 4 Michael S. Osteen of Gulf Hammock went to Vietnam on Aug. 23, 1967. On May 5, 1968, at the age of 22 he was killed by hostile artillery fire in Pleiku Province in South Vietnam. He was one of eight — and some accounts say as many as 19 — U.S. soldiers who died that day when they were ambushed on Highway 14 about 8 miles from Kontum City while escorting a convoy. He was a member of the 4th Military Police Company, 4th Infantry Division.

Troy Chancey knows there's no place like home.
After a year of being shot at and interrogating enemy combatants in Afghanistan, the 22-year-old Army specialist admits being back in the relatively slow pace of Chiefland is a little strange. But life in the states is something he looks forward to getting used to again.
"I wanna' do a lot of the things I missed out on," Chancey said Friday from the home of his grandparents Janice and Buster.

By Kay Louder
Social Security District Manager, Gainesville
In April, Social Security announced 52 new Compassionate Allowances conditions to the growing list of severe medical conditions that qualify for expedited medical decisions. The new conditions include many neurological disorders, cancers, and rare diseases.

William Ferguson Caldwell died 19 years ago. He was a U.S. Army WWII veteran who fought at Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge. He was a father, and the husband of Dorothy Caldwell.
More than a decade before his death, according to his wife, he did a stint at Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center, in Gainesville.
“He was there for a while,” Caldwell said. “I said (to him), ‘When you get out of here, we’re gonna’ volunteer.”
That was 29 years ago, and Caldwell, 91, of Cross City, hasn’t stopped volunteering yet.

Candidates have ample time to get ready for the big political rally July 20 sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5625 and its Ladies Auxiliary in Chiefland. The event is open to the public.
Everyone should bring an appetite as there is a dinner beforehand and a dessert auction following the forum.
The rally at 7 p.m., in the Post's smoke-free meeting room, will allow each candidate three minutes to speak to the public.
Before the jawboning starts, the post will host a country fried dinner with sides from 5 to 7 p.m. for a donation.

A crowd of about 40 people, most huddled under canopies or umbrellas, turned out on Memorial Day at Rosemary Hill Cemetery in Bronson to pay their respects to those who gave their lives in defense of the United States of America.
As Tropical Depression Beryl sent winds and a steady drizzle, Ivan Chubb, Florida state veterans representative, shepherded the crowd and offered prayers.